[hr][center][img]http://txt-dynamic.static.1001fonts.net/txt/dHRmLjgwLjgwYTlkMS5RVzVrY21WaElGQmhjM1JsY201aFkycywuMAAA/ruthie.regular.png[/img][/center][code]Grand Ridge - Conference Room[/code] 
[sub][@Surtr Inc][@Atrophy][/sub][hr]
Not to sell everyone else short, but Andrea [i]really[/i] didn't expect her little speech to go as well as it did. Sure, she hoped that people would listen to reason. She liked to believe in the best of people and that one level head in an massive argument can go a long way – but [i]damn[/i] was the tension high, and she wasn't holding her breath for anything. First was the asian boy whose name she didn't know, then Britney, Claire seemed  like, well, Claire, then the hipster girl, and then the loud mouthed kid that started escalating the situation in the first place. Penny looked like she was just stewing in self righteous anger or something. A few of the other students participants that were quiet just went on ahead to progress the conversation, and Britney was more than happy to oblige them.

Granted, she felt a little frustrated because she was still in the dark, but at least everyone seemed to cool it a little bit. Still, it would've helped her help them if she understood what was happening. What they're talking about started sounding like a foreign language to her; a bunch of nonsense about “abstractions”, weird dreams, and some kind of journal featuring some dead person's handwriting. Using context clues, however, she could tell that the dead person was connected to their problems in one way or another. Whether they were a previous victim, present in their dreams – it was hard to tell, maybe the man was both. Regardless, it seemed to point some of these kids towards a very dangerous direction, and Claire had no issue with making her opposition loud and clear... but Andrea didn't have much time to think about it before Penny lost it.

Needless to say, there were a list of things in her dramatic tirade that started waving red flags in Andrea's head.  Insults and barbs that made her feel like red-hot needles were pricking at her skin and closing in from all sides. The steady drumming of her heart against her chest escalated as she felt her head become light-headed. If she doesn't fall into an anxiety attack, then she was about to get very pissed. There weren't very many ways to go about doing that.

“...makes me want to put a bullet through my God damn head.”

“Nobody was expecting the town whore to step up from her fucking knees!”

“...putting what shit you do into your body, trying to, like, [i]open your mind, man...[/i]”

If she were the target of these disgustingly incendiary jabs, she might have shut down, but she wasn't. Claire was, and in that moment, she knew more about those two women than she bargained for. Now she was pissed.

She was never really the type to get into yelling contests with other people whenever she got angry like some of the people here. No, she just made it very clear that she wasn't your friend. Perhaps most people wouldn't care, but she doesn't dare spare a single ounce of her  boundless generosity with anyone like that. All she could really bring herself to do is stand between Claire and Penny. At first she looked at Claire with a knowing, sympathetic glance – no, [i]empathetic[/i], her eyes were [i]welling[/i] with emotion as she hovered close in front of her. Then she turned that glance to face Penny with such a look of scorn that none of her friends would think possible (Britney has certainly never seen it).

“You need to leave. [i]Now.[/i]” Was all she said, growling at her as she pointed to the door, not taking her eyes off of the other blonde. As far as she was concerned, nothing else [i]needed[/i] to be said. Anything more would be redundant. Penny knew now that she wasn't welcomed here. She already got her licks in, and if she continued then she'd just be making a fool of herself. Andrea hoped she was reasonable enough to see that.

Maybe part of her wanted to show Claire that she had to be the better person here, even if it's hard. Even Andrea thought it was hard, since the idea of getting back at her was such an attractive option... but they had to prove that they were better people than her. That's all one can really do about people like that. Be the better person - even if your voice and your fists were trembling. Lord knows [i]her[/i] body was shaking with barely controlled rage.